Management Method And Management Server For Using Sim Cards

ABSTRACT

In a management method and a management server for using a plurality of SIM cards, a large number of users can start use easily. First, an MVNO  230 A that has obtained one or more SIM cards logs in to a management screen provided by an MVNE  210  in association with a user ID of the MVNO  230 A. From the standpoint of the MVNE  210 , it is determined whether a user ID of a user who has accessed a management screen of a management server of the MVNE  210  is under MVNO contract (S 301 ). When the user ID is under MVNO contract, an identification number given to each SIM card and a passcode for authentication given as needed are received as registration information (S 302 ). If the management server of the MVNE  210  can receive necessary registration information, each SIM card of which an identification number is specified by the registration information is associated with the user ID as an SIM card used by the MVNO  230 A and the association is registered in the management server of the MVNE  210  or a database  211  accessible therefrom (S 303 ).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/320,832 filed Dec. 21, 2016 which is a U.S. National StageApplication under 35 USC §371 of International application No.PCT/JP2016/067292 filed Jun. 9, 2016, which claims priority of Japanesepatent application nos. 2015-117661 filed Jun. 10, 2015 and 2015-150496filed Jul. 30, 2015, the entire contents of all of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, with the advent of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO),retailing of a wireless communication line is becoming popular.Conventionally, a mobile network operator (MNO) having a wirelesscommunication infrastructure provided a wireless communication serviceto an end user directly. However, MVNOs provide original wirelesscommunication services to the end user using the wireless communicationinfrastructure of an MNO.

MVNOs can be roughly classified into a form where a company does nothave an in-house communication infrastructure and a form where a companyitself has an in-house communication infrastructure and thecommunication infrastructure is connected to the communicationinfrastructure of an MNO to provide a wireless communication service(see FIG. 1). As compared with the case of the former, in the case ofthe latter, because the company has the in-house communicationinfrastructure and price setting according to communication quality suchas communication speed and communication capacity is enabled, attemptsto meet various needs are made. For example, SIM cards for a wirelesscommunication service of which the price is suppressed by settingmaximum communication capacity that allows high-speed data communicationare sold in mass merchandisers.

Specifically, such an MVNO receives SIM cards from an MNO and providesthe SIM cards to the end users. The MVNO manages communication qualitysuch as speed limit and capacity limit set to each SIM card togetherwith the identification number of each SIM card by a database andprovides a wireless communication service according to the contractdetails for a portable terminal such as a smart phone and a tabletrequesting an access to the Internet.

Also, there is a case in which a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE)providing a support service to enable MVNOs to run a business smoothlyintervenes between an MNO and an MVNO and the MVNE receives SIM cardsfrom the MNO and provides the SIM cards to the MVNO.

When the MVNO or the MVNE holds a gateway (GGSN in 3G and P-GW in LTE)as an end point of a core network as an in-house communicationinfrastructure, L2 connection (full MVNO connection (S5/S8 interface inLTE and Gn interface in 3G)) with a communication infrastructure (SGSNin 3G and S-GW in LTE) of an MNO is enabled and an L2 tunnel is formedbetween a wireless terminal on which a SIM card of an end user ismounted and the gateway. Because the L2 connection has higher freedom indesigning of a wireless communication service than L3 connection (lightMVNO connection), the L2 connection is attracting attention.

A movement of IoT to connect all things to the Internet by addingwireless communication functions is the example of recent remarkableincrease in the needs for wireless communication service. Hereinafter, awireless apparatus that can be connected to a computer network includingthe Internet is called an “IoT apparatus”.

The IoT apparatus also includes a portable terminal such as a smartphone and a tablet held by a person. However, the IoT apparatus isexpanding to apparatuses requiring communication of a form differentfrom a communication form for a person, like a transportation means suchas an automobile moving faster than a person and a sensor rarely movingfrom a specific position. For this reason, the required communicationspeed or communication frequency is various. It may be said that optimalcommunication quality is changing. For example, in the case in which itis considered that SIM cards are incorporated into 10 or 100 industrialmachines to realize IoT and the industrial machines are remotely causedto perform communication with other apparatuses, installation of a largenumber of SIM cards is required even if each IoT apparatus performscommunication of low capacity at a low frequency.

With the spread of IoT apparatuses, the number of users such asproviders managing a plurality of IoT apparatuses increases, but on theother hand it is difficult under the present conditions for each user tomake a contract with an MNO as an MVNO and collectively manage theplurality of IoT apparatuses, that is, a plurality of SIM cards mountedon the plurality of IoT apparatuses. First, the needs diversify togetherwith the spread of IoT apparatuses and a situation where a small numberof SIM cards such as several to several tens of SIM cards are used, likethe case of making apparatuses IoT apparatuses on a trial basis, can beenvisioned. When the user desires to manage the SIM cards collectively,instead of using the SIM cards through individual contracts, an MVNOcontract with an MNO is necessary. However, there are many cases in thatthe small-scale MVNO cannot make a contract with the MNO to begin with.Then, even if the user can make a contract with an MNO as a small-scaleMVNO, to increase

SIM cards by several to several tens of pieces, the MVNO needs to make arequest to the MNO to associate the additional SIM cards with the ID ofthe MVNO(hereinafter, referred to as an “user ID”). After completion ofthe association, the MVNO receives the additional SIM cards and thesebecome available for use. Specifically, as an association, a name of theMVNO, an identification number of each SIM card such as IMSI and ICCID,status such as in-use and inactive, etc. are input to each SIM cardmanually by a dedicated device and are registered in a database of theMNO. A series of procedures accompanying the circulation of SIM cards toan MVNO are complicated and requires several weeks. In addition, initialinvestment is necessary from economic point of view and it is notpossible to meet the needs of a user who desires to use necessary numberof SIM cards necessary for IoT apparatuses as needed.

An environment where a large number of users can become MVNOs easily isstrongly required while it is anticipated that the number of small-scaleand medium-scale MVNOs increases rapidly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above problem and anobjective thereof is to enable a large number of users to start usageeasily, in a management method and a management server for using aplurality of SIM cards.

To achieve this objective, the aspect 1 of the present invention is amanagement method for using a plurality of SIM cards, comprising stepsof: receiving registration information for registering one or more SIMcards; and associating one or more SIM cards, one or more identificationnumbers of which are specified by the received registration information,with a user ID of a user of the plurality of SIM cards.

The aspect 2 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 1, wherein management of communication status of theassociated one or more SIM cards are started as inactive.

The aspect 3 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 2, wherein the communication status is changeable on amanagement screen provided for the user ID.

The aspect 4 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 3, wherein the communication status is changeable by selectingfrom at least more than two of inactive, in-use, cancelled, anddispatching.

The aspect 5 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 3 or 4, wherein communication quality of each SIM card ischangeable on the management screen.

The aspect 6 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 5, wherein the communication quality is at least one of speedlimit, capacity limit and time slot limit.

The aspect 7 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 5 or 6, wherein management of the communication status or thecommunication quality is performed on a instance on a cloud.

The aspect 8 of the present invention is the management method accordingto any one of aspects 1 to 7, comprising the steps of: receiving achange application of a user of one or more SIM cards associated withthe user ID; and generating registration information for one or more SIMcards which are targeted by the change application in response to thechange application.

The aspect 9 of the present invention is the management method accordingto aspect 8, wherein communication status of one or more SIM cards whichare targeted by the change application is changed in response toreceiving the change application.

The aspect 10 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the registrationinformation includes one or more identification numbers of the one ormore SIM cards; wherein the step of receiving the registrationinformation comprises the steps of detecting a click or tap of aregistration button on a management screen provided for the user ID;displaying an input screen for registering the one or more SIM cards inresponse to detection; and associating the one or more SIM cards, one ormore identification numbers of which are input on the input screen, withthe user ID.

The aspect 11 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the registrationinformation includes a group ID allocated to the one or more SIM cardsas a set of SIM cards, comprising a step of specifying one or moreidentification numbers of the one or more SIM cards by referring to acorrespondence table between the group ID obtained from the receivedregistration information and the one or more SIM cards to which thegroup ID is allocated.

The aspect 12 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to aspect 11, wherein the registration number includes apasscode corresponding to the group ID.

The aspect 13 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to aspect 11 or 12, further comprising steps of: generating aregistration code corresponding to the registration information; andsending the registration code to a terminal of the user.

The aspect 14 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to any one of aspects 11 to 13, wherein association of the oneor more SIM cards with the user ID is performed without requiring anadditional input from the user after obtaining the group ID.

The aspect 15 of the present invention is the management methodaccording to any one of aspects 11 to 13, further comprising a step ofdisplaying an input screen for designating a group name of the one ormore SIM cards to be associated with the user ID after obtaining thegroup ID; wherein the registration information further includes thegroup name.

The aspect 16 of the present invention is the management method ofaspect 14 or 15, wherein a SIM card associated with the user ID isdisplayed on a management screen provided for the user ID after theassociation.

The aspect 17 of the present invention is a program for having acomputer to perform a management method for using a plurality of SIMcards, the management method comprising steps of: receiving registrationinformation for registering one or more SIM cards; and associating oneor more SIM cards, one or more identification numbers of which arespecified by the received registration information, with a user ID of auser of the plurality of SIM cards.

The aspect 18 of the present invention is a management server for usinga plurality of SIM cards, comprising: a receiving unit for receivingregistration information for registering one or more SIM cards; and aregistering unit for associating and registering one or more SIM cards,one or more identification numbers of which are specified by thereceived registration information, with a user ID of a user of theplurality of SIM cards.

Conventionally, SIM cards cannot be supplied to an MVNO unless the MVNOgoes through a series of complicated procedures with an MNO. Accordingto an embodiment of the present invention utilizing a user ID, the MVNOto which SIM cards are provided can associate the SIM cards with itsuser ID afterwards. Therefore, SIM cards can be circulated in a statewithout association with a user ID of an MVNO and a large number ofMVNOs can start to use a plurality of SIM cards easily.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a managementmethod for using a plurality of SIM cards, comprising steps of:receiving registration information for registering one or more SIMcards; and associating one or more SIM cards, one or more identificationnumbers of which are specified by the received registration information,with a user ID of a user of the plurality of SIM cards, whereincommunication status for each identification number is changeable on amanagement screen provided for the user ID, and wherein communicationquality for each identification number is changeable on the managementscreen.

Another asepct of the present invention is directed to a program storagemedium, readable by a computer, storing a program for having a computerto perform a management method for using a plurality of SIM cards, themanagement method comprising steps of: receiving registrationinformation for registering one or more SIM cards; and associating oneor more SIM cards, one or more identification numbers of which arespecified by the received registration information, with an user ID ofan user of the plurality of SIM cards, wherein communication status foreach identification number is changeable on a management screen providedfor the user ID, and wherein communication quality for eachidentification number is changeable on the management screen.

Another asepct of the present invention is directed to management serverfor using a plurality of SIM cards, comprising: a receiving unit forreceiving registration information for registering one or more SIMcards; and an associating unit for associating one or more SIM cards,one or more identification numbers of which are specified by thereceived registration information, with an user ID of an user of theplurality of SIM cards, wherein communication status for eachidentification number is changeable on a management screen provided forthe user ID, and wherein communication quality for each identificationnumber is changeable on the management screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an MVNO whose communicationinfrastructure is connected to a communication infrastructure of an MNOto provide a wireless communication service.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a circulation route of a plurality ofSIM cards enabled by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an initial setting method for using aplurality of

SIM cards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a management screen of a plurality ofSIM cards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a registration screen of a SIM cardaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a gateway on a cloudexecuting a function of a management server according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of a gateway on a cloudexecuting a function of a management server according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a management screen of a plurality ofSIM cards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of a group selection of aplurality of SIM cards according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

In the present specification, a user who manages and uses a plurality ofSIM cards collectively may be called an “MVNO”.

In addition, definitions of terms such as an MNO and an MVNE may bedifferent by countries. In the present specification, as in Japan, thecase in which an MNO holds SGSN of 3G or S-GW of LTE as a communicationinfrastructure and an MVNE holds GGSN of 3G or P-GW of LTE as acommunication infrastructure will be described as an example.

First Embodiment

FIG. 2 illustrates a circulation route of a plurality of SIM cardsenabled by an embodiment of the present invention.

First, when an MVNE 210 makes a request to an MNO 220 for a certainamount of SIM cards, the MNO 220 inputs the name of the MVNE 210, anidentification number of each SIM card, status such as in-use andinactive, etc. to each SIM card manually by a dedicated device, andmakes registration to a database 221 of the MNO 220, and then providesthe SIM cards to the MVNE 210 by a method such as mailing. By pooling alarge amount of registered SIM cards in advance at the MVNE 210, one ormore SIM cards can be rapidly supplied to a plurality of MVNOs 230A and230B that are users. This is a business model where the MVNE 210 holdsthe SIM cards for the plurality of MVNOs 230A and 230B as sharedresources in order to provide necessary amount of SIM cards whennecessary and allocates them on demand.

Circulation routes for obtaining the SIM cards for the MVNOs 230A and230B can be roughly classified into the case in which the SIM cards arereceived directly from the MVNE 210 and the case in which the SIM cardsare received indirectly via a retail channel such as an e-commerce siteand a mass merchandiser market. As described below, according to anembodiment of the present invention utilizing a user ID, the SIM cardsfor the MVNOs 230A and 230B can be circulated using the retail channeland it will be possible to meet the needs of a user who desires to usethe SIM cards in an environment in which the SIM cards necessary for IoTapparatuses can be collectively managed as necessary. Particularly, thisgreatly promotes generation of a large number of small-scale andmedium-scale MVNOs that are expected to be needed in future.

The order can be changed, but the MVNE 210 receives user data such as aname, a domicile or residence, a card number or account number forpayment, etc. from each of the MVNOs 230A and 230B to make a contract,and then provides a user ID to each of the MVNOs 230A and 230B inadvance. The user data is stored in a management server MVNE 210 or adatabase 211 accessible therefrom. This status is defined as “under MVNOcontract”. The MVNE 210 can provide a management screen on themanagement server for each of the MVNOs 230A and 230B. The contract withthe MNO 220 is made by the MVNE 210. For this reason, depending on adecision of the MVNE 210, if a user who desires to become an MVNOsatisfies a minimum condition looser than the contract with the MNO, theuser can perform collective management of a plurality of SIM cards as anMVNO.

Here, an initial setting method for using a plurality of SIM cardsaccording to the embodiment of the present invention utilizing a user IDwill be described with reference to FIG. 3. The description starts froma situation where the MVNO 230A has received one or more SIM cards. Atthis time, the MVNO 230A may have SIM cards that are already in use, orit may be in a situation where it is going to start using for the firsttime by the received SIM cards .

First, the MVNO 230A that has obtained one or more SIM cards logs in toa management screen provided by the MVNE 210 in association with theuser ID of the MVNO 230A. From the side of the MVNE 210, it determineswhether the user ID of the user who has accessed the management screenof the management server of the MVNE 210 is under MVNO contract (S301).

When the user ID is under MVNO contract and the login is performed, anidentification number given to each SIM card and a passcode forauthentication given as needed are received as registration information(S302).

If the management server of the MVNE 210 can receive the necessaryregistration information, each SIM card of which the identificationnumber is specified by the registration information is associated withthe user ID as the SIM card used by the MVNO 230A and the association isregistered in the management server of the MVNE 210 or the database 221accessible therefrom (S303).

For example, a management screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 can be used.A “SIM registration” button 420 is clicked or tapped after performingthe login using a user ID (for example, “user1 @xxxxjp”) 410, and aninput screen to input necessary input items as illustrated in FIG. 5 canbe displayed in response to the detection of the click or tap. It ispossible to identify the necessary input items by photographing anduploading a physical medium where the identification number, etc. ofeach SIM card is described as an image and performing an image analysisat the side of the management server of the MVNE 210 where the image isreceived. The passcode given to each SIM card can be set as a one-timepassword that becomes invalid when the passcode is once associated withthe user ID.

The description has been given on the assumption that the managementscreen is provided on the management server of the MVNE 210. However,the management screen can be displayed within an application operated ona wireless terminal such as a smart phone and a tablet.

The SIM card associated with the user ID may be displayed continuouslyon the management screen after association with the user ID.

Conventionally, SIM cards could not be supplied to the MVNO unless theMVNO goes through a series of complicated procedures with the MNO.However, according to the embodiment of the present invention utilizingthe user ID, the MVNO to which SIM cards are provided can associate theSIM cards with an account (user ID) of the MVNO afterwards. Therefore,the SIM cards can be circulated in a state without association with theaccount of the MVNO.

The fact that it is possible to circulate SIM cards without specifyingthe MVNO using the SIM cards means that the SIM cards can be supplied tothe MVNO via a retail channel such as an e-commerce site and a massmerchandiser market and plays a major role in supplying SIM cards to alarge number of small-scale and medium-scale MVNOs to be born from nowon.

In a current situation, the individual SIM cards can be purchased viathe retail channel such as the e-commerce site and the mass merchandisermarket. However, it shall be noted that all of the SIM cards need to beindividually managed and collective management of a plurality of SIMcards such as several to several tens of SIM cards is not possible.

The management server according to the embodiment of the presentinvention includes a processing unit such as a CPU and a storage unit.Programs stored in the storage unit are read and are executed by theprocessing unit, so that the individual functions of the managementmethod can be realized, and the management server can be configured.

Second Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the example of the case in which necessaryregistration information is input by clicking an “SIM registration”button 420 of a management screen 400 is described. Alternatively,registration information can be sent together with one or more SIM cardsreceived by an MVNO 230A in a form of a QR code (registered trademark)for example and the MVNO 230A can read the registration information andassociate the received SIM cards with the user ID. This is effective tothe case of one SIM card. However, in the case of a plurality of SIMcards, association with the user ID becomes significantly easy.

Specifically, first, a management server of an MVNE 210 allocates agroup ID (for example, “group123456789”) not associated with a specificuser ID to a set of SIM cards including one or more SIM cards. Themanagement server of the MVNE 210 holds a correspondence table showing acorrespondence relation of a group ID and identification numbers of aset of SIM cards to which the group ID is allocated, for each group ID.

Next, the management server of the MVNE 210 generates a registrationcode such as a barcode, a QR code (registered trademark), and URLrepresenting registration information including the group ID and apasscode for authentication given as needed. The passcode or theregistration information including the passcode can be set as a hashvalue. The registration information or the registration code can bestored in the management server or a storage medium accessible from themanagement server in association with the group ID. The URL can be setas URL including a group ID and a necessary passcode or a hash valuethereof and can include a portion showing the management server of theMVNE 210 and a portion showing the group ID and the necessary passcodeor the hash value thereof (for example:“https://www.soracom.io/group123456789/”).

The MVNO 230A that receives the registration code can receive theregistration code in an application operated on a wireless terminal forexample and can input the registration information represented by theregistration code to the management server of the MVNE 210. When theregistration code is a URL, the registration information can be input tothe management server of the MVNE 210 by accessing the URL correspondingto the registration code, such as a web page uniquely determined foreach group ID. That is, if the management server of the MVNE 210receives the registration information, in the case in which a user ID isunder MVNO contract and login is performed, identification numbers ofthe SIM cards to which the group ID included in the registrationinformation is allocated can be specified by referring to thecorrespondence table. Association of one set of SIM cards with the userID can be performed without requiring an additional input of the userafter obtaining the group ID from the registration information. Thepasscode corresponding to each group ID can be set as a one-timepassword which becomes invalid when the SIM cards to which the group IDis allocated are once associated with a user ID.

Conventionally, the user data needed to be registered for each SIM card.However, by providing the management method using the group ID, theinitial setting of an MVNO which requires a plurality of SIM cards canbe markedly simplified.

In the example described above, an example in which the registrationcode is provided to the MVNO 230A is described. Alternatively, theregistration information including the group ID can be directlytransmitted.

Further, an input screen to designate a group name of one set of SIMcards to be associated with a user ID can be displayed after, at orbefore obtaining the group ID from the registration information. In thisway, the already registered SIM cards in association with the user IDand newly added SIM cards can be managed separately. When theregistration code is a URL, a group name can be included in theregistration information by providing a group name by using a URLparameter, instead of the input screen.

For example, in the case in which an IoT apparatus provider is the MVNO230A, the case where the IoT apparatus provider provides its apparatusesto a plurality of providers by lease contracts can be considered. Atthis time, it is possible to separately manage a wireless communicationservice provided from the IoT apparatus provider as the MVNO to eachprovider by giving a group name to each provider.

When the MVNO 230A is specified at the MVNE 210, the registration codeor the registration information may be transmitted digitally to the MVNO230A and the SIM cards may be delivered separately. Here, if the case inwhich the IoT apparatus provider is the MVNO 230A is considered as anexample again, the registration code or the registration information maybe transmitted to the IoT apparatus provider to perform the associationwith the user ID, and the SIM cards may be dispatched to the entity towhom the IoT apparatuses are provided from the IoT apparatus provider.

Third Embodiment

In the first and second embodiments, description is given on theassumption that a management server of an MVNE 210 is configured usingone or more servers. However, the management server can be configured asan instance on a cloud.

More specifically, (at least a part of) a gateway to cause data from awireless terminal to pass through to an IP network and the like held bythe MVNE 210 may be implemented on a cloud and the gateway or theinstance on a cloud accessible therefrom may perform functions of theabove mentioned management server.

In the present specification, the “cloud” means a system that candynamically perform provisioning and provide computing resources such asa CPU, a memory, a storage, and a network band according to a demand onthe network. For example, by AWS, etc., a cloud can be used.

In the gateway, controls such as speed limit, capacity limit and timeslot limit for the wireless terminal are possible. For this reason,communication quality, communication status, etc. of one or more SIMcards to be associated with a user ID can be changed on a managementscreen.

Executing such processing at the gateway necessarily causes reduction inthe number of simultaneously connectable apparatuses required for thegateway by the physical limit of the server which the gateway isimplemented. In addition, the number of gateways by which the MVNE 210can make L2 connection (or L3 connection) with the communicationinfrastructure of an MNO 220 is in most cases predetermined by the MNO220 and a number limit is imposed. For this reason, even if a cost isdisregarded, it is not possible to accept the increase in the number ofsimultaneously connectable apparatuses by adding hardware more than thenumber limit. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 6, at a gateway 610comprising a communication system 600, a first server group 611 which isa portion connected to a communication infrastructure of the MNO 220 anda second server group 612 which is a portion to perform additional dataprocessing and the like are divided and a function of the managementserver is performed at the second server group 612 or a server group 620accessible therefrom to avoid the occupation of computing resourceswhich suppresses the increase in the number of simultaneouslyconnectable apparatuses at the gateway 610 even when an additional dataprocessing at the gateway 610 is added, and rich functions andcomplicated functions can be implemented at the gateway 610.

Both of the first server group 611 and the second server group 612 maybe on a cloud. Particularly, by realizing each server configuring thesecond server group 612 as an instance on a cloud, it can be scaled outby increasing the number of instances as needed. Therefore, computingresources can be used substantially unlimitedly.

As in an example of a gateway 710 illustrated in FIG. 7, the number ofservers configuring a second server group 712 is preferably larger thanthe number of servers configuring a first server group 711. When thenumber of servers configuring the second server group 712 is equal to orsmaller than the number of servers configuring the first server group711, resources such as the number of sessions and the number of IP flowsdetermined by the number of servers or instances are not increased andsufficient scalability may not be obtained. FIG. 7 illustrates the casein which the second server group 712 is commonly used by each server ofthe first server group 711. However, the present invention is notlimited to this example. Here, an example of the case in which thefunction of the management server is performed at the second servergroup 712 is considered.

Further, each server configuring the first server group 611 can berealized as an instance on a cloud. In this way, an IP address of eachserver can be virtualized and failure resistance can be improved. Evenif a certain server goes down, by holding a correspondence relation ofthe first server group 611 and the second server group 612 in a neweststate in real time on a database of the third server group 620 forexample, failure recovery is enabled instantly by changing IP addressesto different servers. Also, because scaling up and scaling down can beperformed freely by using cloud, instances having optimal CPU, memory,storage, and network band according to processing load can be selected.As a result, hardware adjusted to the maximum demand at the peak doesnot need to be always prepared and optimization of the cost is enabled.This is applicable to cloud migration of the second server group 612.

From the MNO 220 to the MVNE 210, IP addresses of the first server group611 are registered in advance in a database of the MNO 220 and forexample it can be determined in a round robin manner to which server ofthe first server group 611 the data from a wireless terminal istransmitted. Other than IP addresses, registered information may bedestination addresses to identify destinations, such as MAC addresses.

Each server configuring the first server group 611 has a receiving unitthat receives data from a wireless terminal, a selecting unit thatselects any one of a plurality of destination addresses on the basis ofa header of the received data, and a transferring unit that transfersthe received data to the destination address selected by the selectingunit.

Transfer of the data from the wireless terminal, that is, a packetincluding a payload and a header from the first server group 611 to thesecond server group 612 can be performed by rewriting an IP addressdesignated by the header added to the payload received from the wirelessterminal at the first server group 611 with any one of the plurality ofIP addresses corresponding to the second server group 612. Each of thefirst server group 611 transfers the data to the server configuring thesecond server group 612 that after rewriting corresponds to one of theplurality of IP addresses. Rewriting is an example of processingnecessary when an IP address to transfer the data received by each ofthe first server group 611 to the server configuring the second servergroup 612 is selected and the data can be transferred by performingother tunneling (IPIP, GRE, IPsec, GTP, etc.).

At the third server group 620, the number of servers configuring thesecond server group 612 can be controlled on the basis of metrics ofprocessing capabilities and scaling-out and scaling-in can be performed.The third server group 620 can monitor metrics of processingcapabilities of instances used by the first server group 611 and thesecond server group 612 and can allocate connection to instances havinglow processing load every time there is a connection request from thewireless terminal. As examples of the monitored metrics, there are a CPUload, a memory utilization rate, disk read, disk write, a networktraffic reception amount, and a network traffic transmission amount.

In addition, a correspondence relation of the first server group 611 andthe second server group 612 can be selected using the third server group620. When the first server group 611 receives a GTP connection startrequest (GTP-C) including IMSI, TEID, etc. of the wireless terminal, thefirst server group 611 transmits a CreateSession message to the thirdserver group 620 and the third server group 620 receiving the messagecan select the second server group 612 as the destination on the basisof the metrics of the processing capabilities generated by continuouslyor intermittently monitoring a utilization situation of the CPU, thememory, the storage, and the network traffic of the computing resourcesof the second server group 612. By recording a correspondence of anidentifier of an L2 tunnel, an identification number of the wirelessterminal, IP addresses of the first server group 611, IP addresses ofthe second server group 612 at the third server group 620 when there isthe GTP connection start request, a session of the L2 tunnel can berecovered when a failure occurs in the first server group 611 or thesecond server group 612.

The connection start request can be received at the first server group611 and the first server group 611 can perform a function on a C plane.However, a C plane server group performing the function on the C planecan be separately provided as a part of the gateway 610 or a part of thecommunication system 600. In this way, the computing resources of thefirst server group 611 can be used for simultaneous connection with moreapparatuses. In this case, the first server group 611 does not receivethe connection start request and does not have the function on the Cplane.

As examples of the additional data processing at the gateway, an alertcan be generated in response to a communication situation of one set ofSIM cards to which a group ID is allocated for example. It is possibleto output an alert or adjust the communication band when a predeterminedcommunication amount set by a contract of the SIM cards is exceeded bymonitoring the communication situation using each SIM card.

As examples of an IP network accessed by the wireless terminal, there isa private system in addition to the Internet. The private systemincludes an on-premise private system, a different IP network on thesame cloud or an IP network on the different cloud when at least a partof the gateway 610 is realized on a cloud. The communication system 600or the gateway 610 and these private systems can be connected by adedicated line or a virtual dedicated line.

Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 8 illustrates a setting change screen 800 of a plurality of SIMcards according to an embodiment of the present invention. When an MVNO230A who is a user of SIM cards makes access to a web page on amanagement server of an MVNE 210 or on a server accessible toinformation stored in the management server, the management screen 800of the plurality of SIM cards of which the MVNO 230A is the user canbrowsed.

In addition to an identification number 801 given to each SIM card, aname 802, a group name 803, utilization status 804, a type 805 ofcommunication quality given to the SIM card, an expiration date 806,etc. are displayed.

Here, the type 805 of the communication quality can be selected by aclick and the like and set speed limit, capacity limit, time slot limit,etc. can be changed as needed. The changed communication quality isstored at the management server together with the identification numberof the SIM card.

When there are more than two groups 803, a search specifying a group canbe performed by selecting the group by pull-down 900 to select a searchcondition placed on the right side of the search window of FIG. 9. Ifthe group is designated and the search is performed, a list of SIM cardsassociated with the group is displayed as illustrated in FIG. 8, in thiscase “test group 1”. Therefore, the setting can be collectively changedby checking the left check box and appropriately selecting from the“operation” for example.

For example, if the list of SIM cards associated with the “test group 1”is displayed and the group is changed to “test group 3”, a transition ofSIM registration between the groups is easily made.

After one or more SIM cards and a user ID are associated with eachother, the management can be started by setting the communication status804 to “inactive”. By setting the communication status to inactive,generation of communication charges can be suppressed untilcommunication is actually necessary.

In the case in which the MVNO 230A is specified at the MVNE 210 and aregistration code or registration information is transmitted digitallyto the MVNO 230A and the SIM cards are delivered separately, when theSIM cards are dispatched, the communication status 804 can be set to“dispatching”. It can be changed to “in-use” when the MVNO 230A inputsthe registration information for example by inputting the registrationcode. Alternatively, when a predetermined date and time or apredetermined period passes, the communication status can be changed to“in-use”.

Fifth Embodiment

If the case in which an IoT apparatus provider is an MVNO 230A describedin the first embodiment is used as an example again, the case in whichan IoT apparatus leased from the IoT apparatus provider is assigned canbe considered. In this case, a user of SIM cards mounted on the IoTapparatus also changes from a first MVNO to a second MVNO. In amanagement server of an MVNE 210, this change can be reflected.

The first MVNO that desires to change the user of one or more SIM cardsit has been using by assignment, re-renting, etc. first sends a changeapplication of the user to the MVNE 210. After receiving the changeapplication, the MVNE 210 generates registration information including apasscode or a registration code representing the registrationinformation. At this time, the management server of the MVNE 210 canchange the communication status 804 of the SIM cards targeted by thechange application to “inactive” and it is possible not to display theseSIM cards on a management screen 800 of the first MVNO.

The first MVNO receives the registration code or the registrationinformation generated by the MVNE 210 and provides the registration codeor the registration information to the second MVNO, together with anapparatus in some cases. The second MVNO inputs the receivedregistration code or registration information to the management serverof the MVNE 210, similar to the first embodiment or the secondembodiment, so that the SIM cards can be associated with a user ID ofthe second MVNO.

In this way, giving and receiving of SIM cards between MVNOs, that is,the change of user ID can be performed easily and securely, and forexample assigning and re-renting of the IoT apparatuses can be easilyperformed.

The scope of protection of the invention is not limited to the examplesgiven hereinabove. The invention is embodied in each novelcharacteristic and each combination of characteristics, which includesevery combination of any features which are stated in the claims, evenif this feature or combination of features is not explicitly stated inthe examples.

1. A management method for using a plurality of SIM cards, comprisingsteps of: receiving registration information for registering one or moreSIM cards; and associating one or more SIM cards, one or moreidentification numbers of which are specified by the receivedregistration information, with a user ID of a user of the plurality ofSIM cards, wherein communication status for each identification numberis changeable on a management screen provided for the user ID, andwherein communication quality for each identification number ischangeable on the management screen.
 2. The management method accordingto claim 1, wherein management of the communication status for eachidentification number is started as inactive.
 3. The management methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the communication status is changeable byselecting from at least more than two of inactive, in-use, cancelled,and dispatching.
 4. The management method according to claim 1, whereinthe communication quality for each identification number is at least oneof speed limit, capacity limit and time slot limit.
 5. The managementmethod according to claim 4, wherein management of the communicationstatus or the communication quality is performed on an instance on acloud.
 6. The management method according to claim 1, comprising thesteps of: receiving a change application of an user of one or more SIMcards associated with the user ID; and generating registrationinformation for one or more SIM cards which are targeted by the changeapplication in response to the change application.
 7. The managementmethod according to claim 6, wherein communication status of one or moreSIM cards which are targeted by the change application is changed inresponse to receiving the change application.
 8. The management methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the registration information includes oneor more identification numbers of the one or more SIM cards; wherein thestep of receiving the registration information comprises the steps ofdetecting a click or tap of a registration button on a management screenprovided for the user ID; displaying an input screen for registering theone or more SIM cards in response to detection; and associating the oneor more SIM cards, one or more identification numbers of which are inputon the input screen, with the user ID.
 9. A program storage medium,readable by a computer, storing a program for having a computer toperform a management method for using a plurality of SIM cards, themanagement method comprising steps of: receiving registrationinformation for registering one or more SIM cards; and associating oneor more SIM cards, one or more identification numbers of which arespecified by the received registration information, with an user ID ofan user of the plurality of SIM cards, wherein communication status foreach identification number is changeable on a management screen providedfor the user ID, and wherein communication quality for eachidentification number is changeable on the management screen.
 10. Amanagement server for using a plurality of SIM cards, comprising: areceiving unit for receiving registration information for registeringone or more SIM cards; and an associating unit for associating one ormore SIM cards, one or more identification numbers of which arespecified by the received registration information, with an user ID ofan user of the plurality of SIM cards, wherein communication status foreach identification number is changeable on a management screen providedfor the user ID, and wherein communication quality for eachidentification number is changeable on the management scre